First Church Charlotte

Oct 16, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms https://www.amazon.com/dp/1733717102/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_YxDQDbQX7TK6M

Oct 13, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms Greece, the land of philosophies, said, "Be wise, know yourself." Rome, an empire of war, said, "Be strong, discipline yourself." Epicureanism says, "Be sensuous, enjoy yourself." Psychology says, "Be confident, assert yourself." Materialism says, "Be satisfied, please yourself." Pride says, "Be superior, promote yourself." Humanism says, "Be capable, believe in yourself." But Christianity says, "Be a steward, give of yourself." At the heart of Christianity is giving-- "For God so loved the world, he gave . . ." (John 3:16). We are never more like God than when we give. Jesus said, "I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life" (Matt. 20:28). The world's thought is get all you can. But to be like Jesus, we must give.

Oct 9, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms 1st Church CLT

Oct - 6-2019 | Pastor Nathan Elms Question: What did God get out of his relationship with Adam and Eve? Companionship. I deeply believe that it is a love story. What is God looking for now? 1.) Realize that you are already a person of faith What does it mean to be a person of faith? Everyone, no matter what your spiritual and religious convictions are, they have faith in something. You see, faith is a natural faculty that all of us use at one level or another. Our English word faith comes from the Latin word fides, which means to trust or to rely upon something or someone? And every single person is doing that every single day, whether it’s trusting your own feelings or taking your friend’s word for it or relying on your car to get you from point A to point B—in a hundred different ways, we’re all using this natural faculty of faith. 2.) Embrace Both Clarity and Mystery There are revealed things and concealed things. 3.) Put God’s Word Into Practice The majority of us have the Lord in our lives, but a

Oct 2, 2019, | Bishop David Elms Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard what the Lord has prepared for those who love Him

Sept 29, 2019, I Pastor Jonathan Moran Jesus the Messiah spoke life to us. Learn what the Son of God said, and then speak life to other people, as His witnesses.

September 22, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms https://firstchurchclt.com/notes

September 18, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms https://firstchurchclt.com/bible-study

Sept 15, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms https://firstchurchclt.com/notes

September 11, 2019, | Pastor Jonathan Strickland There is power in your story and no one can tell your story quite as well as you can.

September 8, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms One of the great ideas of the bible is Deliverance. In fact, Deliverance in many ways defines what it means to be a child of God. Deliverance is a necessary first step. We cannot understand God's doctrine, a theology of grace, or hope to come, without understanding divine deliverance. Jesus introduced his ministry by reading a particular passage from the book of Isaiah—a passage his listeners knew was referring to the Messiah, or the Savior of the world. The words had been written hundreds of years earlier and spoke of the new freedom that was coming in the future. When Jesus stood up to read, He was saying the future had arrived. Liberty would come through Him. Luke 4:17-21 New King James Version (NKJV) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+4%3A17-21&version=NKJV Notice this: 1. Preach (good news to the poor) 2. Healing (of the brokenhearted) 3. Deliverance ( to the captives) 4. Healing (recovery of sight to the blind) 5. Deliverance (liberty to the oppress

September 4, 2019, | Pastor Brent Keating

Sept. 1, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms 1st Church CLT Theodore Levitt is an economist and a professor at Harvard Business School. He did a research project called “Market Myopia.” His discovery: Business leaders often do not understand what business they were in. For example, the railroad people didn’t understand that they were in the transportation business. Had they realized it, they would have invested in the airplane. The telegraph people thought that they were in the telegraph business. They failed to realize that they were in the communications business. In 1886 or so, they could have bought all of the telephone patents for about $40,000. But they didn’t know what business they were in. I. What is the main business of the church? • Care for its members? Counsel for the confused? Prayer for the sick? Marrying and burying? Fellowship for the lonely? Teaching paths of righteousness? Without a doubt, these are functions of the church – but not the main business of the church; and if we start acting as if

August 25, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms https://firstchurchclt.com/notes Ezekiel's call (1:28-2:8) -This is an image of surrender. "When I saw [it], I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking" (Ezek. 1:28). Here's what he heard: • Stand up on your feet "He said to me, 'Son of man, stand up on your feet . . .'" (Ezek. 2:1). God wanted Ezekiel to be fully alert. He was about to receive direction. • Listen to the One "'. . . and I will speak with you.' As He spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and I listened to the One who was speaking to me" (Ezek. 2:2). • The Mission of God There is an action component to the call of God. We cannot be where God wants us without going to where God sends us. • Remember Who You Are Serving. Ezekiel, you must decide who you are serving. • Receive what I am giving you. Ezekiel means "God is strong" or "God makes strong." This was Ezekiel's call to be a prophet. What is God calling you to do? What is God calling you to support? Paralysis is your enemy. What c

August 21, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms Foundations: Fear is a part of life. Fear, in context, can be the right emotion. Yet fear can also be our enemy. Indeed, fear is the currency of the devil. Fear is the common battle of all believers. There are 365 times in the scripture where we are commanded to overcome our fear. The opposite of faith isn't doubt – it is fear. There are three great enemies of the church 1. A wounded spirit. 2.) A railing spirit. 3.) A fearful spirit Question: How can I tell the difference between normal fear and spiritual oppression? Importantly, the correct initial response is always practical. Prayer. Fasting. Faith. Confession. Our lives are lived forward but understood looking backwards. Whether or not we understand, we are still called to be faithful. "Faith-full" Don’t fall for the wrong assumption that “understanding” something will make it easier to do the right thing. It may have the opposite effect. However, there are some questions we can ask to help contextualize o

August 18, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms https://firstchurchclt.com/notes/ 1. God Is Spirit God is a spirit being. Jesus described God in this manner. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24). 2. God Is Light The Bible also says that God is light. This is the message we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in him, there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). 3. God Is Love The Bible says that God is love. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him (1 John 4:16). 4. God Is A Consuming Fire The Bible also describes God as a consuming fire. For our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). Of these images of God we can only know God through Love. This is the necessity of love. This is the point of 1 John 4: 7-8 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love

August 11, 2019, | Rev Glenn Eliseo Ps 2:1-4 Luke 6-21 • It's not the who laughs first, it is the one who laughs last is Victor. • Our freedom in the Lord Jesus is Hell's chains. • The laughter of unbelief is, unfortunately, is common today. It's not who laughs first, but those who laugh last are the ones who won. • Look past the problem, and instead, look at the Truth. • The laughter of the fool is temporary, but the laughter of the delivered is eternal. There is no fun outside of Jesus. • Hell thought that they had won at the Cross but instead lost everything according to God's plan. If they would have known that they were being led into a checkmate by God with the crucifixion, they never would have been eager to make it happen. • Sometimes when there is nothing else that we can do in a situation, we simply need to stand as a warrior in God. • We can't have a testimony without a test. • There's a warrior's laugh. It's done when the victor is in total dominance, just as when we remember that God is so muc

August 7, 2019, | Pastor Ed Hodge

August 4, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms • Ministry is not from the platform of a church, but instead the church is the ministers for their communities. • Part of our job is to see God's people as God sees them and not only as we see ourselves. • When God sees us, He sees His blood covering us. The moment that we see our church brothers and sisters as God sees us, that is the time that we can encourage and help each other. • There is a victory for you that the enemy, (devil) doesn't want you to have and there are times that the enemy wants to take what you have already accomplished. • Goliath is an example of how we are intimidated by fear and illusion and sometimes defeated by our own expectations of what we can or can't do. Giants will always poster for you. • If you want to know what God can do, get your eyes off of what you can do and get your eyes on what God has already done. Don't worry about the giants in your life; which is done by keeping your focus on how much bigger God is. • The problem of giants is

July 28, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms